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Wars and Conflicts

I am not sure as to the finer points as to the distinction between war, conflict, revolt and revolution. It may be just the amount of people killed or it may be the issues being resolved. 1503 - Conflicts with the Indians By 1503 we have the first recorded conflicts with native Brazilians. 1555 - Conflicts with the French From the early 1500s the French had been illegally extracting Brazilwood from the coats regions of Brazil. At least in two occasions the Portuguese crown (1516 and 1530) had sent fleets to expel the French settlers. In 1555 the French (mostly French Hugguenots, ie Protestant Calvanists) arrive in force at Rio de Janeiro and establish a fort on a small island on the island still known as Villegaignon, in honor of the commander. This becomes known as "Antartic France (Franca Antartica). This upset the Portuguese, and by 1565 they have a fleet and a settlement near the bottom of Sugarloaf mountain, glaring and thinking bad thoughts about the French only one mile away. In early 1567 the Portuguese and their allies, the Tupis and the Temimino', lead by Name de Sa, are able to overcome the French and their allies, the tamoio Indians. The final battle occurs on the 20th of January, the day of Saint Sabastian. Rio become a Portuguese colony. Between 1590 and 1615 the French also establish what was known as Equinocial France (Franca Equinocial)in the state of Maranhao, founding the city of Sao Luiz. 1580-1640 Brazil and Portugal become part of Spain In 1578, in the last crusade mounted by Christian Europe, King Sabastian and the flower of Portuguese Nobility and the entire Portuguese army are massacred by the Islamic Moors in North Africa. Sabastian's body was never found. King Phillip II of Spain a vacuum and takes over Portugal. In 1640 the Portuguese revolt and regain their independence and possessions. This period was important for the expansion of Brazil because, since all of the Americas were now Spanish, the Tordesilhas treaty no longer had any meaning, so the Paulistas (Bandeirantes) pushed ever deeper into the Mato Grosso region, Southern Amazon and even down to what is now Uruguay, where later they would later establish the city of Sacramento (1680). These were all on the Spanish side of the treaty border and might not be now part of Brazil had not there been this episode. 15??-?? - Pirates Attack 1600-50 - Bandeirante expeditions Although the settlers in the Sao Paulo region, known as Paulistas, had been exploring the southern parts of Brasil for 5 decades, it was at the beginning of the 1600s that they began forming groups known as Bandeirantes (flag carriers) for the purpose of capturing and enslaving Indians. In bands of 100, 1000 or even 5000, the Bandeiras traveled throught the interior of Brazil. Few tribes within a distance of 1000 miles from Sao Paulo escaped the brutal assaults of these men of war. For a hundred and fifty years, from father to son to grandson, the business of the Bandeirante was war, plunder and slavery. Once in a while, as a sideline, they would seek gold and precious stones. The Bandeirantes basically destroyed the Jesuit missions (among the Guarani indians) in Southern Brazil, bringing an end to a noble experiment that may have been doomed anyway with the expulsion of that religious order. When Portuguese were not able to subdue the African slave revolts of the Quilombos, the officials brought in Bandeirante mercenaries who quickly ended the black slaves dream of freedom. It should also be said that the bandeirantes, more than anybody, are responsible for the current extent of Brazilian territory. When I was in ginasio school in Sao Paulo, Bandeirantes in the textbooks were brave, zestful fun-loving heroes (A race of giants), maybe even politely inviting the Indians to join them on a long trip for a vacation on the beaches and in the sugarcanefields of Rio de Janeiro. We read about Raposo Tavares, Fernao Dias, Anhanguera, Borba Gato (I lived two blocks from his statue in Santo Amaro!) and others. There were doubtless some good people in Sao Paulo, but they did not made a living bringing misfortune to others. The fact is that, like the viking, huns and mongols, the Bandeirantes didn't respect anything except brute force. They were denounced by their own Portuguese and Spanish governments, and even excommunicated by the Pope. Not that this did any good for the natives. An often over-looked fact is that the Bandeirantes had very large private armies consisting of marmelucos (mixed white and indian blood persons) and most of all, "friendly" Indian tribes (the Tabajara, Ouruaze, and others) that traveled with the Paulistas and who were a major factor in the victories in the Palmares and Barbado conflicts. 1646-1696 Quilombos War Since the early 17th century african slaves had fled from the harsh life in the canefields of Northeast, setting up free colonies in Alagoas and Pernambuco called Quilombos. The largest and best known of these was Palmares, which served as an independent, free enclave, and a magnet for slaves throughout northern Brazil. Naturally, this was not looked upon kindly by the plantation owners and government officials, who send over 20 expeditions to recapture and enslave the blacls, without success. In desperation the officials import a large band of Bandeirantes Paulistas, headed by one Domingues Jorge Velho. With customary efficiency the Paulistas, having already practiced a lot on the indians, destroy the Quilombos (1694). Later, one of the officials remarks that between the trouble caused by runaway slaves and the help from the Paulistas, he preferred the Quilombos. 1688 Barbados War In one of the few united actions by Brazilian Indian tribes (the Cariri, Jandui, Caripu, Payaku, Xucuru and others) there was a general upraising in the Rio Grande do Norte area against the Portuguese colonial system and the encroaching plantations. This war was a large-scale conflict involving hundreds of small battles and ambushes, without quarter on either side. It lasted about 25 years (until about 1713) although the core of the revolt was crushed by the old warhorse, Jorge Velho, who was in the vicinity visiting his friends in Palmares (see above). 1624-29 - Wars with the Dutch In 1621, the Dutch West índia Company was chartered to trade in the New Worid (North and South América) and, specifically, to deprive Portugal of its holdings there, as a similar company had done to Portugal in the Far East. In 1624, a company fleet of 26 Dutch ships commanded by Piet Heyn (1577-1629) sailed into Bahia (Baia) on the Brazilian coast and seized the port. In response, Spain, which had annexed Portugal in 1580, sent 52 ships and 12,000 men under Fadrique de Toledo to expel the Dutch invaders. Heyn's forces were driven out, but returned in 1627 to recapture and plunder Bahia. Made an admirai in the Dutch navy, Heyn captured a Spanish treasure ship off Cuba in 1628. The enriched Dutch West índia Company now dispatched 67 ships and 7,000 men, who seized Recife (city) and Pernambuco (region) in north-eastern Brazil. The Dutch withdrew rrom the área in 1654, when the Portuguese inhabitants successfully revolted. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (1708-9).WAR of the Emboabas. The discovery of gold in Minas Gerais in eastern Brazil in the seventeenth century caused conflict between the region's original settlers from São Paulo (Paulistas), who claimed exclusive right to the mineral wealth there, and the new settlers, mostiy European immigrants, called emboabas (the Paulistas, many of whom were of Portuguese-Amerindian blood, regarded the newcomers as trespassers and tenderfeet, appiying the term emboabas to them, while the emboabas thought of the Paulistas as uncouth and barbárie). Tension mounted for a decade, with the European newcomers finally outnumbering the Paulistas and with civil war erupting in 1708 for possession of the gold mines. The emboabas, supported by the colonial government, succeeded in displacing the Paulistas, who then moved west to Mato Grosso, where they found gold deposits in 1718. Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 1710-11 War of the Mascates (Peddiers' War) The inhabitants of Olinda and Recife, two neighboring towns in Pernambucco in eastern Brazil, clashed over authority in the district. Olinda, the districfs administrative capital, contained wealthy, aristocratic plantation owners, who resented the immigrant ship workers and traders at Recife and labeled them mascates, meaning "peddiers." When the Portuguese royal government made Recife a wholiy separate town with its own government in 1710(at the request of its people),civil war ensued between Recife and Olinda that lasted until 1711, when a new district governor mediated peace and promised amnesty to both sides. While Olinda declined in importance. Recife prospered and eventually became the capital of Pernambucco in 1827. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Brazilian War of Independence (1822-25). As a result ofthe Napoleonic invasion of Portugal during the PENINSULAR WAR (q.v.), the Portuguese royal family fled to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which became the seat of the Portuguese government. In 1821, King John VI (1769-1826), who had initiated reforms, including raising Brazil to equal status with Portugal in the empire and removing restrictions on Brazilian trade, returned to Portugal and left behind his eldest son. Dom Pedro (1798-1834) as prince regent. Attempts by Portugal to reduce Brazil again to subordinate status led to Dom Pedro's statement, the Grito de Ypiranga, proclaiming Brazilian independence and his crowning as Brazil's emperor in 1822. The Brazilian navy, organized and commanded by Lord Thomas Cochrane (1775 - 1860), blockaded the Portuguese garrisons at Bahia in 1823. Attacks by land and sea drove the Portuguese to leave in a large convoy and, failing to land at Maranhão (São Luis) (Cochrane had captured the port), to proceed across the Atlantic to Portugal. In 1824, Pedro I granted Brazil its first constitution, and in 1825, Portugal recognized Brazilian independence. SeealsoARGENTINE-BRAZILIAN WAR OF 1825-28; CHILEAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE; PERUVIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE; PORTUGUESE CIVIL WAR OF 1823-24. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 1823-24 Portuguese Civil War During the drafting of Portugal's democratic constitution in 1823, Portuguese royalists staged two unsuccessfui insurrections in an attempt to restore an absolute monarchy: the first from Vila Real and the second from Vila Franca de Xira. The latter was supported by Dom Miguel (1802-66), the third son of Portugal's King John VI (1769-1826). On April 30,1824, Dom Miguel and his absolutist followers moved against the government at Lisbon, where the soldiers in the garrison there acknowledged him as king; Dom Miguel was joined by his mother, the Portuguese queen. Lisbon's police chief and others were arrested for allegediy piotting against the royal family, and King John was left alone in Bemposta Palace when his moderate advisers fled in fear. Miguel in stalled his own followers as military officers. The Portuguese citizenry, angered by this headstrong treatment of their sovereign, John, withdrew support for Dom Miguel, who was forced to seek forgiveness from his father. Assisted by the diplomatic corps, John was able to reimpose his ruie, and the arrested Dom Miguel was exiled to Vienna. The king authorized a constitution reestablishing the Cortes (national legislature). In 1825, he accepted Brazilian independence with succession rights to both Brazil and Portugal vested in his son Pedro I (1798-1834), emperor of Brazil (see BRAZILIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE). See aiso OPORTO, REVOLUTION AT. Portuguese Civil War of 1826-27. When King John VI (1769-1826) of Portugal died, his son Emperor Pedro I (1798-1834) of Brazil was recognized as the new Portuguese King, Pedro IV (see PORTUGUESE CIVIL WAR OF 1823-24). To the satisfaction of the liberais, he issued a constitutional charter for Portugal (based on the British parliamentary system) but remained in Brazil, abdicating the Portuguese throne to his infant daughter Maria da Gloria (1819-53) provided she was bethrothed to his younger brother. Dom Miguel (1802-66), who was to accept the constitutional government. Civil war broke out between the absolutist supporters of Miguel, the so-called "Miguelites," who took control of Lisbon, and the constitutionalists, who were aided by General John Carlos de Oliveira e Daun Saldanha (1791-1876) at Oporto. A 5,000-man British force landed at Lisbon in January 1827, and assisted the constitutionalists in putting down MiguePs followers. The British left when Miguel agreed to Pedro's charter (earlier, his marriage to Maria had taken place by proxy, but it was never consummated), and Miguel was appointed regent. See aiso MIGUELITE WARS. xxxxxxxxxxx Miguelite Wars (War of the Two Brothers) (1828-34). Portuguese monarchal absolutists led by Dom Miguel (1802-66) opposed the establishment of a Cortes (representative national assembly). After accepting the parliamentary charter that his brother Emperor Pedro I (1798-1834) of Brazil had promulgated (see PORTUGUESE CIVIL WAR OF 1826-27), Dom Miguel was appointed regent during the minorityof Queen Maria II (1819-53), aisocalled Maria de Gloria, whom he had married by proxy. But Dom Miguel violated his oath to Pedro, replacing moderate governors and military officials with autocrats, and the Cortes was replaced by a docile body which proclaimed Miguel king of Portugal in May 1828. Queen Maria II, Pedro's littie daughter, who was en route from Brazil to Portugal, was diverted to England, where she took refuge. Constitutionalists at Oporto and other places supported Pedro and Maria but were decisively defeated by the "Miguelites" near Coimbra on June 24,1828. Dom Miguel was crowned king on July 11, 1828, and his absolutists began to wage a bloody war of reprisal. Ali Portugal fell to them save the Azores, an island group in the Atlantic west of Portugal, where a regency on behalf of Queen Maria II was established in 1829. Pedro abdicated his Brazilian throne in favor of his son and traveled to Europe to finance an army for the conquest of Portugal. In April 1831, he landed in the Azores, assembled an expedition with British support, and then sailed to Oporto in February 1832. Oporto was taken and subsequentiy withstood a year-long siege by the Miguelites, who finally retook the city; French General Louis Auguste Victor de Bourmont (1773-1846) helped Miguel at Oporto. But soon afterward, Miguelite naval forces suffered defeat by a "liberation" fleet commanded by Sir Charles James Napier ("Cario Ponza") (1782-1853) off Cape St. Vincent on July 5, 1833. Lisbon fell to the constitutionalists on July 24, 1833. Miguel's sheltering of Don Carlos (1788-1855), absolutist Spanish pretender to the throne of Spain, at his base near Coimbra resulted in a Spanish invasion to capture Don Carlos and helped prompt the formation of the Quadruple Ailiance of Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal to preserve constitutionalism and to counter the absolutist Holy Ailiance of Áustria, Rússia, andPrussia. With Spanish aid, the constitutionalists captu- red Viseu, Coimbra, and Tomar and defeated the Miguelites at the Battie of Santarém on May 16, 1834. In return for a general political amnesty. Dom Miguel surrendered ten days later at Evora-Monte, gave up his claim to the throne, and retired to Germany. Pedro reinstated the 1826 constitution, and Queen Maria II was crowned after being declared of age (1834). See aiso CARLIST WAR, FIRST. Xxxxxxxxxx 1825-28 Argentine-Brazilian War of 1825-28. Uruguayan revolutionary Juan António Lavalleja (1784-1853) and his small group, called the "Thirty-three Immortals," declared Banda Oriental (Uruguay) independem from Brazil in 1825. Argentina, which hoped to acquire the province, supported the Uruguayans, causíng Brazil to declare war on Argentina and to blockade the port of Buenos Aires. On February 20, 1827, an Argentine-Uruguayan army defeated the Brazilians on the pampas of Cisplatina at the Battie of Ituzaingo. Protests from Britain, France, and the United States forced Brazil to discontinue its blockade. Through British mediation, a peace treaty was signed, creating an independent Uruguay as a buffer state between Brazil and Argentina. See aiso ARGENTINE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE; URUGUAYAN REVOLT OF 1811-16. Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 1864-70 Paraguayan War (War of the Triple Ailiance) Francisco Solano Lopez (1827-70), president-dictator of Paraguay, dreamed of ruiing a great Platine state in South América, with Paraguay as its center. Brazilian military intervention in Uruguayan political affairs in support of the Colorados (1864) caused Lopez, who backed the Blancos, rivais of the Colorados, to demand the withdrawai of Brazilian imperial troops. When Brazil paid no heed, Paraguayan forces invaded and occupied the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso in late 1864, and Lopez declared war on Brazil. Denied permission to cross Argentine territory só that his soldiers could invade southern Brazil, Lopez declared war on Argentina on March 18, 1865. Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay formed the Triple Ailiance against Paraguay (May l, 1865) and organized ailied armies under the command of Argentine General Bartolome Mitre (1821-1906). Brazilian naval forces won a major battie on the Paraná River south of Comentes in mid-1865, forcing the Paraguayans to retreat and afterward fight a defensive war from their own soil. Lopez led his army to victory against the invading ailies at the Battie of Curupayti (September 22, 1866) after suffering several defeats. Slowly ailied forces pushed up the Paraguay River in 1867, capturing the strategic river fortress of Humaita as Lopez withdrew his men north to Angostura and Ypacarai. After these two towns fell to the alhes in late 1867, Paraguay^ capital of Asuncion was seized and sacked by the Brazilians, whose commander, Luiz Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias (1803-80), replaced Mitre as head of the ailied forces. Fleeing with partisan troops, Lopez carried on a guerrilia war in northern and eastern Paraguay until he was killed on March l, 1870 while fighting Brazilians in Concepcion province. Paraguay's provisional government and the ailies concluded a peace treaty (June 20, 1870), by which Argentina and Brazil received 55,000 square miles of Paraguayan territory. The war devastated Paraguay, whose former population of about 525,000 was reduced to some 221,000, of whom oníy 29,000 were adult males; it was the bloodiest conflict in Latin American history. Xxxxxxxxxxxxx Brazilian Revolt of 1893-95. General Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca (1827-92), who led a bloodiess army revolt (1889) that ended the Brazilian empire and established a federal republic, later became BraziPs first elected president in 1891. But that same year strong opposition to his dictatorial policies led to an almost bloodiess revolt by the army and navy (he wanted to curtail the power of the military) that forced him to resign in favor of Vice President Floriano Peixoto (1842-95). But Peixoto, a general aiso, announced that Brazil needed a military dictator to purge its corruption. The navy, led by Admirai Custodio José de Mello (1845?-1902), became frightened; in September 1893, the entire navy mutinied under Mello's direction against the Peixoto government and took control of the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, the capital. Another revolt in the state of Rio Grande do Sol was backed by Mello; its followers gained control of much of southern Brazil but failed to capture the capital, attacked by a third rebel group advocating restoration of the monarchy. Peixoto's forces, including warships ordered from abroad, had much difficulty defeating Mello, who capitulated (April 16, 1894), and suppressing the other rebeis; guerrilia activity continued in Rio Grande do Sol until August 1895, when it stopped suddenly upon Peixoto's death. BraziFs "first civilian president," Prudente José de Morais Barros (1841-1902), generally welcomed when he took office (1894), had to deal with militarism in government throughout his four-year tenure. Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 1930 Brazilian Revolution of 1930 (Gaúcho Revolution). Suffering from the woridwide Great Depression and the collapse ofthe coffee mar- kets, Brazilians were discontented as the presidential election of 1930 approached. Incumbent President Washington Luiz Pereira de Souza (1869-1957) designated fellow Paulista (native of São Paulo), Júlio Prestes (1898-1946), as the official conservative candidate in the election to succeed him. This, however, represented a break in the usual arrangement, under which the chief politicians in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais had alternated in selecting presidential candidates. In the election, the leaders of Minas Gerais supported Getulio Dornelles Vargas (1883-1954), governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sol, whose residents were referred to as gaúchos (hence the name ofthe revolution). When Prestes was declared the winner (March 1930), his opponents in the southern states made plans to upset the results; Orwaido Aranha (1894-1960), legal aide to Vargas, made a tour of army commands and found support for Vargas in the military. In October 1930, Vargas called for a revolt, promised numerous economic and political refonns, assembled state and national troops loyal to him, and made a trip by train to Brazil's capital, Rio de Janeiro. Ali opposition vanished, and in a bloodiess revolution, he seized the presidency, forcing Luiz to resign and Prestes to take refuge in the British legation. This marked the end of the oíd, or first, republic. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 1964 Brazilian Revolt of 1964. President João Goulart (b. 1918) of Brazil headed a leftist-oriented government that was endorsed by the Sailors and Marines Association and other labor organizations. On March 25, 1964, about 1,400 sailors and marines seized a trades union building to protest the arrest of their association's president; the protesters refused to surrender to the minister of the navy, buí two days later yielded to army troops and were promptiy pardoned. Top military leaders were shocked and accused Goulart of not supporting them and of undermining discipline. Although Goulart agreed to investigate the amnesty, the Fourth Military Region staged a revolt against him (March 31,1964) and was soon joined by other military regions. The army garrison at Rio de Janeiro fought against a few troops loyal to Goulart and soon took control of the city. A general strike called by the General Confederation of Workers completely disrupted daily life but failed to prevent the military takeover of the government. Goulart was forced to flee to Uruguay. The new government immediately began arresting ali leftists and suspected Communists and later expanded its purge to members of congress and officials who had been in Goulart's Labor party. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 1969 Guyanan Rebeilion of 1969. Invading rebel bands from Brazil seized the towns of Lethem and Annai in southwestern Guyana near the border (January 2, 1969), but in a few days they were driven out by Guyanan army forces. Several policemen and some others lost their lives. The rebel invasion had been apparentiy sponsored by Americans who owned large cattie ranches in the region and hoped to establish a separate state there that they could control without interference from the Guyanan government. Xxxxxxxxxxxx 1693 Paulista bandeirantes discovered extensive gold deposits in Minas Gerais. An influx of gold seekers followed, among them many newly arrived Portuguese. Stagnation of sugar economy. 1 1694–95 A military expedition captured Palmares, reenslaving maroon dwellers. Their leader, Zumbi, continued resistance until 1695, when he was captured and executed. 2 1701–13 French attacked Brazilian ports as a result of alliance of Portugal with England in the War of the Succession. They sacked and held for ransom Rio de Janeiro (1711). 3 1708–9 War of the Emboabas. The Paulista gold prospectors attacked Emboabas (Portuguese newcomers), whom they saw as taking undue advantage of their findings. 4 1709 Paulistas colonized Mato Grosso and Goiás, areas far west of the Line of Demarcation. The crown created the captaincy of São Paulo and Minas Gerais with a captain-general directly responsible to the sovereign. Later it elevated Minas Gerais into a separate jurisdiction (1720) and established the captaincies of Mato Grosso (1744) and Goiás (1748). 5 1710–11 The War of the Mascates. Disputes between native Brazilians of Olinda, capital of Pernambuco, and the Portuguese of the commercial town of Recife led to armed conflict. Recife obtained municipal privileges and eventually displaced Olinda as the seat of government. 6 1718 Against ruthless Portuguese expansion, Gê and Tupi Indians, led by Mandu Ladino, rebelled in southern Maranhão and Ceará. Portuguese, using Tobajara Indians, subdued the rebellion after seven years. Portuguese advances in the Amazon basin destroyed Omagua and Yurimagua tribes. 7 1755 Law of liberties declared Indians free citizens but had little effect in improving treatment of Indians. 8 1750–77 The Marquês de Pombal (Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo), as minister to Joseph I, introduced broad colonial reforms. The capital was transferred from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro, and Maranhão was incorporated into Brazil (1777). He declared Indians free citizens (1755) and ordered the expulsion of Jesuits from Portugal and its possessions (1759). Pombal strongly pressed Portuguese territorial claims. 9 1760 Treaty of Madrid. Although this treaty was voided in 1761, it was important because both Spain and Portugal abandoned the boundaries set by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). 10 1777 By the Treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain recognized Portuguese claims to extensive areas in the basins of the Amazon and Paraná. 11 1789 The Conspiracy of Minas Gerais (Inconfidência Mineira). Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (Tiradentes) led a failed revolution to make Minas Gerais an independent republic. 12 xxxxxxxxx The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001. 1807–8 Invasion of Portugal by Napoleon's army prompted Prince John, regent after 1792, to create a regency in Portugal, flee to Brazil, and establish his court at Rio de Janeiro. He declared war on France, dispatched an expedition to French Guiana, and sought to annex the Banda Oriental of the Río de la Plata. 1 1812 The opposition of the viceroy and the revolutionary junta of Buenos Aires, along with British influence, caused the regent to renounce temporarily intervention in the Río de la Plata. 2 1815–16 The regent elevated Brazil into a coordinate member of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarve (Dec. 16, 1815). He became John VI upon the death of Maria I (March 1, 1816). 1808 As a result of the war in Europe, the king of Portugal, John VI, transferred his court to Brazil, leaving Portugal to be governed by a British-dominated regency. He established his capital in Rio de Janeiro and decreed free trade for Brazilian ports. This caused discontent among Portuguese merchants, who were unable to compete with the British. 1 1817 In Pernambuco, a military revolt supported by some planters, merchants, and bureaucrats proclaimed a republic. An army was sent from Bahia, and the rebels surrendered. 2 1820 The Portuguese overthrew the regency in Lisbon and provisionally adopted the Spanish constitution of 1812. The Cortes summoned the king to return and invited Brazil to send representatives to a constituent assembly. 3 1821 Several military conspiracies in Brazil favored liberal measures and constitutional monarchy. A dispute erupted over the demand for the immediate return of the king to Portugal. A Portuguese faction formed by merchants with Portugal-based interests favored the return as a means to revive monopolies, whereas the “Brazilian” faction, which included Brazilian planters and bureaucrats as well as Brazil-based Portuguese merchants, opposed the departure of John VI. Brazilian deputies in Lisbon rejected attempts by the Cortes to reduce Brazil to colonial status. The king decided to return and leave his son, Pedro, in Brazil as prince regent. José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva (1763–1838) was elected president of the São Paulo provisional junta and was named chief of the first “Brazilian” cabinet. 4 1822 Brazilian radicals and liberals gave their allegiance to Prince Pedro (1798–1834), who declared (Jan. 9) his determination to remain in Brazil (“Fico”—I will stay). He soon convoked a Brazilian constituent assembly. José Bonifácio drew support from large landholders, slaveholders, and merchants in Rio to oppose the principle of popular representation for the assembly, a condition radicals tried to reverse, proposing direct popular elections. 5 Sept. 7 The Grito de Ypiranga (Cry of Ypiranga). While in São Paolo Dom Pedro received dispatches from Portugal, which, although offering concessions, returned Brazil to dependent status. He therefore proclaimed Brazilian independence. 6 Oct. 12 The Senate proclaimed Dom Pedro constitutional emperor of Brazil. He pledged acceptance of the constitution to be formulated by the assembly and was crowned Pedro I (Dec. 1). Portuguese garrisons and some Brazilians in the northern provinces opposed separation, but the Brazilian navy subdued them. (See Brazil) 7 Uruguay gained independence under the 1828 peace treaty between Brazil and Argentina (See 1825–28). The city of Montevideo became an important commercial entrepot; a pastoral economy evolved in the countryside, dominated by big ranchers. 1 The dictatorship of FRANCISCO SOLANO LÓPEZ (1827–70). Carlos Antonio López died in 1862. His son and vice president, Francisco Solano López, assumed the presidency. He continued enriching his relatives and strengthening Paraguay's armed forces, but moved away from the policy of neutrality. 12 1863 Blanco government of Uruguay allied with Paraguay to fight against Colorado Party (See 1860–68). Argentina and Brazil agreed to invade Uruguay and install colorados. 13 1864 Brazilian troops invaded Uruguay. López protested and then declared war on Brazil. 14 1865 Paraguayan armies, against Argentina's wishes, invaded Corrientes to attack Brazilian bases. Argentina, Brazil, and colorado leaders from Uruguay signed the PACT OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE to wage war against Paraguay. They expected the war to be short. British foreign ministers favored the pact, and the British helped finance the allied war effort. By the end of 1865, the allies had destroyed the Paraguayan navy and isolated the country, but a war of resistance dragged on for four more years. The resulting carnage produced a demographic catastrophe. The allies plundered Asunción (1869) and abused surviving women and children. The besieged government mobilized women and even male children. López's retaliatory measures against alleged pro-ally conspiracies added to the savagery. During his retreat from the allied armies, he massacred communities suspected of surrendering. In 1871, a census conducted by the victors revealed a population of 221,079, of which barely 13 percent were adult males. Paraguay lost 55,000 square miles of its territory. 15 1869 Occupation of Asuncíon by allied forces. Brazilian troops remained until 1876. Paraguayan elites split into the legionaires, who had come with the ally contingents, and the lopiztas, partisans of López. The former were widely resented because of their association with the occupying forces, who did little to reduce rampant starvation. 16 1870 At Cerro Corá, Brazilian troops killed Francisco Solano López in a skirmish. A constitutional convention met; Cirilo Antonio Rivarola, with Brazilian backing, was named provisional president. Measures were taken to attract immigrants and to force rural population into full-time labor on large estates. 17 1892–96 Most of the Misiones territories were given to Brazil as a result of arbitration by the U.S. 10. Brazil Brazil initiated its independence under a monarchical system, which was instrumental in maintaining unity and preserving a social structure based on slavery. Brazil's population was sharply divided into a minority of wealthy slaveholders and a vast majority of slaves and poor people of color. Rural areas were predominant, and the central government coordinated entrenched regional elites. 1 1822–31 THE REIGN OF PEDRO I. Brazilian liberals sought to limit the emperor's power. Dom Pedro I dissolved the constituent assembly and proclaimed a strongly centralist constitution with greater powers for the monarch. 2 1824 In northern provinces, the republican Confederation of the Equator was violently suppressed. 3 1825–28 War between Brazil and Argentina resulted in the independence of the Cisplatine Province (Banda Oriental), which eventually became Uruguay (See Uruguay). The war caused financial havoc in Brazil, and mercenary troops mutinied in Rio (1828). 4 1826 Britain pressured Brazil into a treaty ending the slave trade by 1830 and granting the British advantageous commercial terms from Brazil. The emperor's close association with Portuguese residents caused deep disaffection among Brazilian elites. Plebeians, including slaves, staged anti-Portuguese riots in cities. Opponents of Pedro I denounced the emperor's involvement in Portugal's dynastic struggles. In 1831, he abdicated in favor of his 5-year-old son, who would become Pedro II (1825–1891). 5 1831–40 The regency. During this period an “Additional Act” gave wider powers to the provinces (1834), and separatist tendencies emerged. The War of the Farrapos (1835–45), in Rio Grande do Sul, was inspired by federalist ideas. Revolts also erupted in the Amazon (Cabanagem), Maranhão (Balaiada), and Pernambuco (War of the Cabanos). These usually began as elite disputes but grew into social rebellions as slaves, smallholders, and urban poor joined the uprisings. 6 1840–89 THE REIGN OF PEDRO II. Frightened by the prospect of prolonged social conflict, liberals and conservatives called for the early coronation of Pedro II to promote stability. Coffee boom enriched conservatives in Rio de Janeiro Province. The central government regained full control of the imperial administrative structure. Eager to expand coffee exports, planters purchased African slaves in record numbers from the illegal slave trade. British threats of military action forced Brazil to definitively prohibit the slave trade (1850). In 1872, Brazil had 10,112,000 inhabitants. 7 In 1864, Brazil invaded Uruguay to support its allies, the colorados. López, the Paraguayan dictator, rushed to help his own allies, which created conditions for the WAR OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE (1865–70) (See 1865). Brazil gained substantial territory as a result of the war, but the conflict proved much longer and costlier in lives and money than originally expected. The war with Paraguay also gave military officers a more prominent role in public life. 8 Antislavery agitation and debate resumed with the end of the war, resulting in the Rio Branco Law (1871), which freed all children of slaves born after that date. Abolitionists like Joaquim Nabuco organized a national campaign to emancipate slaves in the 1880s. Free black Brazilians participated prominently in the campaign. Slaves increasingly rebelled against their masters and fled with the help of antislavery activists. In 1885 the Saraiva Cotegipe Law gave freedom to slaves over age 65, with no compensation for owners, but specified harsh penalties for those who helped runaways. The imperial government ordered the military to hunt fugitive slaves, but this outraged the military, which in 1887 formally refused to comply. On May 15, 1888, the GOLDEN LAW, abolishing slavery without compensation to owners, was passed. 9 Meanwhile, the Republican Party gained strength. Founded by dissident liberals in 1870, with support in São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, and the city of Rio de Janeiro, it gained sympathy from military men disillusioned with imperial politics and from federalists who wanted provincial autonomy. Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca (1827–1892) led a military coup d'état, forcing the emperor into exile. The republic was proclaimed on Nov. 16, 1889. 10 1889–1930 THE FIRST REPUBLIC. A constituent assembly promulgated a constitution in 1891, according to which the United States of Brazil became a federal republic. It enfranchised only literate male Brazilians. Deodoro da Fonseca was named president, but a naval revolt and his own autocratic policies led to his resignation (Nov. 23). Vice president Marshal Floriano Peixoto (1839–95) became president (1891–94). Local oligarchies struggled for greater power. The “colonels,” rural bosses who manipulated elections at the local level, sought state and national funds for patronage in their areas of influence. State governors became the main power brokers at the national level to decide on the presidency. States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais attained dominance over the federal government. São Paulo developed a strong export-oriented economy, based on coffee and immigrant labor, bought with states subsidies. In the northeast, traditional sugar elites went into decline. Impoverished northeasterners migrated to the Amazon, where the boom in rubber production (1890–1910) created a constant demand for new workers. Brazil had a population of 14,334,000 in 1890. 11 The new political system fostered frequent conflicts between the federal government and local potentates. Civil war broke out in Rio Grande do Sul (1893–95). In the drought-stricken northeastern backlands, a messianic peasant movement, led by Antonio Conselheiro, founded a communal settlement at Canudos (1893). Seen as a threat by republican officials, Canudos was assaulted by three unsuccessful military expeditions before being wiped out (with massacres of the surviving residents) by a fourth military campaign. In the south, the messianic Contestado movement (1912–15) gathered displaced landowners, squatters, and peasants opposed to colonization projects promoted by a railroad company. The central government violently suppressed it as well. Members of the educated elite justified military violence, describing these religious movements as fanatical and barbaric. 12 1894–1910 Administrations of Prudente de Morais Barros (1894–98), Manoel de Campos Salles (1898–1902), Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves (1902–6), Affonso Penna (1906–9), and Nilo Peçanha (1909–10). State and federal government revenues, mainly from coffee and wild rubber exports, rose. The valorization agreement of 1906 provided government price supports for coffee. The city of São Paulo emerged as an industrial center. Workers there started to organize and develop a labor press under the influence of immigrant anarchists from Italy and Spain. In Rio, then Brazil's largest city, the working class was predominantly of Brazilian origin. An incipient middle class began to develop in the cities. 13 Boundary controversies with Argentina (1895), France (1900), Bolivia (1903), Britain (1904), and Holland (1906) were adjusted by arbitration or direct negotiation, resulting generally in the expansion of Brazilian territory. 14 1911–14 Hermes da Fonseca (1855–1923) assumed the presidency. Factional struggles led to armed federal interventions and imposition of pro-Hermes governors. Cities of Salvador and Manaus were bombarded by federal armies. A financial crisis resulted from the drop in rubber and coffee prices. Brazil proclaimed neutrality at the outbreak of World War I. (See Brazil) 15 This page is under construction!
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